Is it true TurboTax won't let you file if your state income is higher than federal income?

This is actually a known issue with TurboTax that happens more often than you'd think, especially with people who move between states or have unusual income situations. TurboTax has validation checks that sometimes flag when state income exceeds federal income because it's unusual and often indicates a potential error. However, in your situation, it's completely legitimate - if you had a large bonus in California before moving to Texas, it's entirely possible for your California state income to be higher than your total federal income for the year. You have a few options: First, double-check your entries to make sure there isn't an actual error. Sometimes people accidentally enter the same income twice on state returns or miss reporting something on federal. Second, try contacting TurboTax support directly - they can override this validation in legitimate cases. Third, you might consider using a different tax software like H&R Block or FreeTaxUSA that might handle this scenario better.

I went through this exact nightmare last year and wasted hours trying to figure it out. I finally found a solution using taxr.ai (https://taxr.ai). I uploaded my W-2s and other tax documents, and their AI identified the specific entries causing the conflict between my state and federal returns. In my case, I had some retirement income that was being calculated differently between my state and federal returns. Their system pinpointed exactly where the discrepancy was happening in my TurboTax entries. Once I fixed those specific fields, TurboTax stopped giving me the error. Might be worth checking out if you're stuck in the same situation.

Just wanted to update - I was super skeptical about taxr.ai (as you could see in my comment above), but I was desperate after spending 3 days trying to fix this exact issue in TurboTax. I reluctantly gave it a shot and uploaded my documents to https://taxr.ai and wow... it actually found my problem immediately. Turns out I had accidentally entered my California state disability insurance withholding in the wrong field, which was causing my state income to calculate higher than federal. Once I fixed that specific entry in TurboTax, everything went through perfectly. I'm seriously impressed and relieved. Got my refund processed last week too. Sometimes it's worth trying these new tools when you're stuck!

If you're still having issues after trying everything else, I'd recommend using Claimyr (https://claimyr.com) to get connected with an actual IRS agent who can help clarify if there's a legitimate reason for your returns to look this way. I was banging my head against the wall with a similar TurboTax issue last year, and after waiting on hold for HOURS with the IRS, I found this service that got me connected to an agent in under 15 minutes. Check out how it works here: https://youtu.be/_kiP6q8DX5c The IRS agent was actually super helpful and explained that in my case (similar to yours with income in multiple states), there was nothing wrong with having higher state income than federal in certain situations. The agent gave me specific instructions on how to file correctly despite TurboTax's warnings, which saved me a ton of stress.

I need to eat my words from my skeptical comment above. After TurboTax kept rejecting my returns and I couldn't fix it myself, I tried Claimyr out of desperation. Within 20 minutes I was talking to an actual IRS representative who explained that this was a common issue with tax software and I wasn't doing anything wrong. The agent walked me through exactly how to document the situation and explained that once reviewed, my return would be processed normally despite the validation warning from TurboTax. Having that official confirmation directly from the IRS gave me the confidence to proceed. My return has been accepted and my refund is scheduled to arrive next week. That 20-minute call saved me days of stress and uncertainty.

Have you tried using the override function in TurboTax? I had a similar issue last year, and there's a way to tell the software to ignore certain validation warnings if you're confident your information is correct. Look for an option like "I'm sure my information is correct, continue anyway" or something similar on the error screen. Sometimes it's hidden behind a "more options" button. This worked for me when I had a situation where my state withholding was calculated differently than federal.

Before you go crazy with workarounds, double check if you accidentally duplicated some income on your state return that's not on your federal. I made this exact mistake - entered my W-2 income twice on my California return but only once on federal. Drove me nuts for days until I spotted it!